Arkansas lawmakers have recommended regulators move forward with efforts to ban an herbicide that farmers in several states say has drifted onto their crops and caused damage, endorsing the prohibition despite a lawsuit by a maker of the weed killer.

A legislative subcommittee on Tuesday supported the state Plant Board's proposal to ban the use of dicamba from April 16 through Oct. 31. The proposed ban is scheduled to go before the Legislative Council, the Legislature's main governing body when lawmakers aren't in session, on Friday.

The Plant Board earlier this month stood by the proposed ban after lawmakers urged the panel to reconsider the proposal. Monsanto, a maker of dicamba, has filed a lawsuit to block Arkansas from enforcing the ban.